Help Scout review
A broad help desk with a practical free tier for teams of up to five users.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Help Scout is a customer support platform for teams managing customer conversations across email, live chat, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and other channels. Its shared inboxes support team-managed conversations, while customer profiles, workflows, SLA policies, reporting, searchable knowledge bases, an embeddable support hub, and customer portals extend the service beyond email. Mobile apps for iOS and Android, API access, and AI-assisted drafting, summarization, editing, and translation make it suited to small teams that want a broad support workspace without starting with a paid plan.
Pricing is accessible at the entry level. The Free plan costs $0 per account and includes up to 5 users, 1 inbox, and 1 Docs site. Standard costs $25 per user per month and adds multiple inboxes, live chat and SMS, one basic SLA policy, basic workflows, and an AI Inbox assistant. Plus costs $45 per user per month, adding advanced workflows, two advanced SLA policies, a secure customer portal, unlimited AI Drafts, and round robin routing. Pro costs $75 per user per month and adds unlimited workflows, unlimited SLA policies, SSO/SAML, HIPAA compliance, and up to 50 light users. A 15-day free trial is also available.
The platform fits teams that need multiple ways to connect support operations with the rest of their stack. Listed integrations include Salesforce, HubSpot, Aircall, Jira, Linear, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger, while the Inbox, Docs, and Beacon APIs support webhooks and custom apps. The main trade-off is plan progression: the free tier is intentionally narrow, and capabilities such as secure portals, advanced workflows, SSO/SAML, and HIPAA compliance require paid plans. Teams wanting free support for five seats should start with Help Scout; teams needing broader free capacity or advanced features at the lowest possible per-user cost should compare alternatives.
Help Scout pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Free plan includes up to five users, one inbox, and one Docs site
- Shared inboxes, SLAs, workflows, knowledge bases, portals, and reporting
- Supports web, iOS, Android, APIs, and major customer-service integrations
- Where it doesn't
- Free plan is limited to one inbox and one Docs site
- Paid pricing is charged per user each month
- Advanced capabilities are concentrated in higher-priced plans
Help Scout fact sheet, pricing and score →
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